"qrth-phyl"

This game is simple yet not. Strange yet not. The name made no sense to me like some computer cracking code generated the title and named said file. At first I thought this was simply a 3D version of that Centipede game that came on older PCS with minesweeper. I mean the whole changing things on a screen while avoiding colliding into your body is there.

But the visuals and constant use of 3D areas made this game pop out at me. Qrth-phyl by Hermitgames doesn’t claim a pithy plot, but it throws your light snake thing in to various environments: space, inside a boxed in area, crawling around the outside of the box – you even see in the short clip how you can dodge hitting yourself by diving up under and loops in your snake.

It seriously makes me think of if that old PC game had a love child with Rez but with minimal to no music but the blips and squalls of your box light snake thing crawling around. It’s both minimal yet colorful, simply looking yet complex especially when you are trying to avoid being destroyed by your own self.

Let’s just say that despite myself, I indeed spent many hours trying to figure out and play this game. I have watched my light snake explode from running into itself and yet found it a time well spent.

Qrth-phyl (whatever it means) can be found on PC for $3 and on Xbox Live for 80 Microsoft points.